Barry: the Sinnoh rival who wanted to outdo his father

He crashes into you before he even says hello. In Twinleaf Town, Barry lives in the house next door to yours; his father, Palmer, reigns over Sinnoh's Battle Tower, and Barry has already decided all by himself that you'll be his rival. His method fits in one line: take off before thinking, and come back more determined after every defeat.

Contents

• Twinleaf Town, a green scarf and a famous father
• A briefcase left behind in the tall grass
• A team built against yours
• Jupiter, the only real setback
• In the anime, from Oreburgh City to the top of the tower
• From Barry to René: the story of a French name
• Barry at a glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

Twinleaf Town, a green scarf and a famous father

The Sinnoh rival is easy to spot from a distance: blond hair, an orange-and-white striped polo shirt, a green scarf. A detail that amuses sharp-eyed players: he wears an orange Pokétch in his artwork as well as on screen — even though in Oreburgh City, a resident swears the manufacturer only makes them in blue and pink.

His house is right next door to the hero's, Lucas or Dawn, depending on your playthrough. Palmer, his father, is the Tower Tycoon who runs the Battle Tower, located in the northeast of the region: so Barry doesn't start from scratch; he starts out with a crushing comparison on his shoulders and just one idea in his head — getting ahead.

His temperament follows suit. He's a hot-blooded boy, the type to charge in first and think later, without the slightest regard for basic precautions: setting off on a hunt with no preparation, venturing into tall grass without a single Pokémon at his side, and dragging his neighbor into the whole affair. One verbal tic keeps coming back in his lines: he demands a fine as soon as anyone shows up late.

A briefcase left behind in the tall grass

The adventure starts on a whim. All it takes is a TV report about the Red Gyarados for Barry to drag his neighbor off to Lake Verity, where the two boys run into Professor Rowan and the character the player didn't pick, on their way back down — leaving a briefcase behind them in the grass.

His friend advises against it; he goes anyway, and it's wild Starly that settle the argument by swooping down on them. All the two beginners can do is open the briefcase and help themselves to hold their ground, and Rowan, once things have been explained, lets them keep the Pokémon.

In Diamond, Pearl and their remakes, the next scene says everything about the character: in too much of a hurry to take off, he storms out of the Sandgem Town lab and slams the door, without giving Rowan a second to hand him a Pokédex. You then have to bring him the Town Map he left at home, all the way to the Trainers' School in Jubilife City.

A team built against yours

Platinum reshuffles the deck. This time it's Barry who bursts into the protagonist's bedroom to go ask the professor for Pokémon, before rushing into the tall grass of Route 201 — where Rowan, returning at that very moment, stops him just in time. Each of them picks a Ball, the first battle follows, and at Lake Verity, with no Legendary in sight, they come across a shady-looking stranger: Cyrus.

This battle is never balanced by accident. The starter Pokémon he keeps is always the one with the type advantage over yours, and the rest of his team is built around it: which is why Barry is known to use Piplup as well as Chimchar or Turtwig, depending on which Ball you grabbed. Where you meet him, on the other hand, changes from one version to the next — Route 203, once Jubilife City is behind you, in Diamond, Pearl and their remakes; Route 201 in Platinum.

His team then climbs very high. In Platinum, his starter Pokémon peaks at level 85, an all-time record for a rival's Pokémon: outside the battle facilities, only Red's Pikachu and the Garchomp of Cynthia top it, at 88.

🐧 Piplup, Chimchar, Turtwig: the Sinnoh starter trio has its own section, see the Pokémon starters.

Jupiter, the only real setback

The race for Badges comes with a long string of setbacks. Barry stumbles on Route 203, then on Route 209, then in Pastoria City, while Team Galactic weaves its conspiracy in the background. In Canalave City, the Gym Leader actually proves less of a challenge for him than for you, and he's the one Professor Rowan sends to fetch you when you leave the Gym.

The professor then sends him on a mission to Lake Acuity, and that's where the machine jams. Jupiter blocks his way, and Uxie isn't saved: it's the only moment in his entire journey when his enthusiasm cracks, for a boy who usually bounces back from every defeat more determined than ever.

He gets his revenge at Spear Pillar: Jupiter runs into him again there, and he defeats her, along with Mars, backed up by the player. Beaten in turn at the doorstep of the League, he rushes off to join Palmer in the Battle Zone, where from then on he'll offer you a battle every weekend, at the Fight Area in Diamond, Pearl and their remakes, and at the Survival Area in Platinum.

In the anime, from Oreburgh City to the top of the tower

The anime adaptation sticks closely to the original: same hometown, same parents, same personality, same friction with the hero. Barry travels across Sinnoh in search of his Badges and makes no secret of copying the methods of Paul, the region's other rival.

He first appears in episode 567, just four episodes before season 12 begins and the French studios change his name. In the Pokémon Evolutions mini-series, a fifth episode titled "The Rival" revisits his journey starting from the trip to Lake Verity: it shows him opening Rowan's briefcase alongside Lucas, grabbing the Ball containing Piplup to fend off two aggressive Starly, then wresting his first Badge from Roark, at the Oreburgh City Gym.

The story deals him the same abrupt halt as the game — his defeat against Jupiter at Lake Acuity shakes his ambitions — and then the same revenge: under a sky warped by Dialga, he backs up Lucas at Spear Pillar, one of them taking down Jupiter and the other Mars. Much later, it's in the Battle Tower that he stakes his whole career: he climbs its floors all the way to the top, loses the case holding his eight Badges in the middle of a battle, and still wins with his partner from the very first days, to his father's praise.

From Barry to René: the story of a French name

In French, the Sinnoh rival went by the name Barry for a long time — at the cost of sharing it with an antagonist from elsewhere. René took over in 2019, with the arrival of the mobile game, whose trailer names the boy from Twinleaf Town outright. In English, German and Italian, however, Barry remains the canonical name.

The anime had settled the matter nine years earlier. The anime's René was born in May 2010, when France first aired episode 576. In the games, in any case, the name is set during the introduction, right after the protagonist's: four suggestions per version, or whatever you like as long as it fits the character limit.

As a result, the character has piled up identities. On DS, in the French versions, leaving the field blank names him Perlo if you play Diamond, Diamant if you play Pearl, and one or the other at random in Platinum; the internal files of the English versions, meanwhile, call him Cedric. And fans readily call him "Pearl", after his manga counterpart — Perle in the French version, while Shigekatsu Ihara, in his own manga, names him Jun.

Barry at a glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Why was René once called Barry in French?
  Barry was his official French name until the mobile game came out in 2019, whose trailer referred to him as René. Barry remains the canonical name in the English, German and Italian versions, and the anime had already made the switch in May 2010.
• Which starter Pokémon does Barry choose?
  The one with the type advantage over yours: he then builds his whole team around that choice. That's why Chimchar, Piplup and Turtwig are all among his known Pokémon.
• Who is Barry's father?
  Palmer, known as the Tower Tycoon of the Battle Tower, the facility in the northeast of Sinnoh. Surpassing him is the goal Barry sets himself from his very first days as a Trainer, and the anime finally grants him that victory on the top floor of the tower.
• Does Barry lose an important battle?
  Yes, against Jupiter at Lake Acuity, where he fails to save Uxie. It's the only time his determination wavers. He gets his revenge at Spear Pillar, beating Jupiter and then Mars with the player's help.
• Where do you battle Barry for the first time?
  On Route 203, just outside Jubilife City, in Diamond and Pearl as well as their remakes. Platinum moves the encounter up to Route 201, right after Professor Rowan leaves.

In short

Barry works as a character because what drives him is perfectly clear: a famous father to surpass, and no patience to get there. The game makes him an opponent calibrated against your own team, the anime grants him the one victory he was really after, and the mobile game finally explains his habit of fining latecomers — he's saving up to buy a Battle Tower of his own and welcome his father there. A rival who runs faster than he thinks, but who has never changed course.